Your Sunday Sermon Notes

Was there a good point you heard in the sermon for your Sunday Mass of precept?

Let us know what it was.

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14 Comments

  1. St. Corbinian's Bear says:

    Lazarus was dead, as we can become dead through sin, but we may be brought back to life by going to confession. Everybody should come to the reconciliation service with several priests ready to hear confessions. (Local Episcopalian and Lutheran pastors will be available to do whatever they do for their own people.)

  2. Mike says:

    Our Lord restores our souls to life from the death of sin through Confession, just as He restored the body of Lazarus to life.

  3. PhilipNeri says:

    With just one week of Lent left before we begin the Easter season, let this be the question you ask yourself all day everyday: do I believe? Do I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, risen – body and soul – from the dead on the third day? If you say yes to this question, our Lord will say, “Untie him, untie her and let them go.”

    http://hancaquam.blogspot.com/2014/04/yes-lord-i-have-come-to-believe.html

    Fr. Philip Neri, OP

  4. RafqasRoad says:

    Vigil Mass on Sat evening at the church over the river; Fr. P. focused upon Jesus’ willingness to enter into dangerous territory as He made His way to Lazarous’ family/home/tomb…the climax of Fr.’s Homily – ‘Go to Confession’!! he reminded the parishioners about our Second Rite of Confession (though he uses the term ‘reconciliation’ mass this coming Friday at which all four of our parish priests will be in to hear confessions until every last one has been heard.

    At Sunday Mass in the little church up the street (that is only open on Sunday Mornings due to our pronounced priest shortage in this part of regional/rural Australia) the young priest, Fr. D., focused upon Christ’s raising of Lazarous and His words leading up to journeying to Lazarous’ home and tomb as priming those around Him (and us) for His glorious raising of Lazarous, thus openly demonstrating His true identity as Son of God – pointing to His ultimate defeat of death through His resurrection that we will celebrate in just under a fortnight from now.

    Pray for Fr. P. and Fr. D. who work ridiculously hard to serve us here with good, solid weekly regular confession times; two of them, regular (weekly – Fri morning Adoration/Exposition, Rosary, plus same every First Saturday morning. pray for Fr. R. also who is a proper hermit and priest, a mighty man of God yet humble, gifted, the likes of which we well may not see again in our lifetimes – he has prostate cancer and other health issues – please petition our Lord, our Lady, Queen of the priesthood (plus our Lady undooer of knots), and St. Peregrin (excuse spelling) to intercede for him, and for Fr. P. who has his own health issues, and Fr. D., who needs to eat properly and get enough rest if he is not to burn out.

    We might be a NO parish, but its good, solid and faithful; Mass is executed beautifully and with reverence; even if we occasionally have ‘guitar mass’, the liturgy is conducted soberly from the altar – and I can receive on the tongue, kneeling without harassment.

    Folk, do as Fr. Z. states, GO TO CONFESSION!!! Its healing!! It is refreshing!! Regular confession aids us in stopping ‘treading water’ faith-wise and moving along closer and closer to Jesus, conforming ever more near to His will and ways if we will just abandon ourselves to Him and His truths made evident in Holy Scripture and practically outworked in Church Teaching, the Sacraments and Sacramental activities e.g. regular prayer – rosary, office, CDM, reading of Holy Scripture following the readings for the day etc. And confession is freeing!! Though our sins were as scarlet, they shall be made whiter than snow.

    Confession is not frightening; the priest will not sneer in his mind at us, the priest will not belittle us or make us feel like fools; the priest will, as in persona Christe, guide us, correct us, lead us, and absolve us – there is nothing that is more Divinely sweet and soothing than this absolution – oh, and to receive our precious Lord – UNITY!! AMAZING!!

    I’ll stop babbling now; this is my third Easter as a Catholic Christian – WOW!! Praise be to God!!

  5. mamajen says:

    I was reminded once again why I am so fortunate to be able to attend mass where I do.

    Father gave an excellent sermon based on St. Augustine, which discussed various states of sin as symbolized by the three people who Jesus resurrected. First, there was the rabbi’s daughter who had just died and was still in her bed at home. She represents sins of thought that are private without outward actions. Then, there was the man who was being carried to his grave. His body had left the house. This is like sin that we have both thought about and acted upon. And, finally, there was Lazarus. He had been dead for many days and Jesus was warned that his body would stink. Our souls “stink” when we develop a habit of grave sin (he used pornography, drug abuse and holding grudges as examples). Yet, no matter how long each person had been dead, Jesus restored them to life — no sin is too great.

    Father finished up by imploring everyone to go to confession, and there are ample opportunities in the coming weeks. He was particularly blunt with parents, who he said commit spiritual abuse when they fail to bring their children to confession. I was reminded how fortunate I am to have the added responsibility of my children’s spiritual well-being, because in trying to fulfill my duty to them, they help me to do better myself.

  6. Cath says:

    Father spoke of Martha and Mary and how Mary chose the better part while Martha was so busy she complained to Our Lord. Then, when Lazarus died, Martha shows her great faith by saying the same thing as Peter did when he confessed Jesus at the Son of God. This part of the homily alone was amazing.

    But, he went on to add the beautiful story of how his mother passed away unexpectedly and all the people who came back to the faith and were reconciled with others as they all came together for his mother the last hours of her life. He told another story to emphasize how good can come from suffering. It was about a young man tragically paralyzed and his faithful family is with him at the hospital. Their priest, as he was leaving the hospital, came across a woman whose sister was at the point of death and had never been baptised, so he was able to baptize her.

    Thank God for faithful priests!

  7. majuscule says:

    We had candidates at our Mass for the Third Scrutiny. Father stressed that baptism brings us into a new life. And that the baptism of these people at the Easter Vigil is also a reminder to us of our baptism.

    But he also made a point to remind people that missing Mass is a mortal sin and so if we do miss, we need to go to confession before receiving the Eucharist.

    My note: the people who needed to hear this were probably not there.

  8. Del says:

    Alas…. I visited a parish about an hour away from home last Sunday. Monsignor gave an extended reflection of some sort before the readings, then launched immediately into the Creed after the Gospel response. Between that and the usual awful contemporary piano tunes, the whole experience was so jarring that I failed to remember the readings or anything from the sermon-thingy beforehand. I’m usually pretty good at paying attention and being mindful.

    I realize that the purpose of this thread is to avoid complaining. I am posting to give thanks for this blog thread — because I still have a chance to remember Lazarus and experience the wisdom of good preachers.

  9. Lucchesi says:

    Here in Pisa it’s taking place the Missione Giovani (“Youth Mission”?), and its theme, “Esci Fuori”, is based on this Gospel.

    Here’s the prayer (read at every mass, so I think it counts), composed by our Archbishop:

    Dio di bontà e di misericordia,
    Tu hai mandato tuo Figlio
    per portare agli uomini la salvezza,
    dono del tuo amore;
    ora chiedi a noi di farci tuoi collaboratori
    per condividere con tutti i giovani la gioia che sgorga
    dalla conoscenza della tua paternità.
    Tu ci domandi di “uscire fuori”
    dalla chiusura dell’egoismo
    e dalla falsa sicurezza dell’individualismo
    e ci offri la grazia della tua amicizia
    perché la diffondiamo trai nostri coetanei:
    rendi forte e gioiosa la nostra fede;
    riscaldaci i cuori con il fuoco del tuo Amore;
    rendici saldi conla speranza che è ancorata in Te
    perché sappiamo accogliere per noi
    ed estendere ad ogni giovane
    la parola che Gesù rivolse al suo amico Lazzaro:
    “Esci fuori!”
    dal sepolcro della tristezza e dell’insignificanza
    per gustare in pienezza la gioia della vita
    che ci doni in Cristo tuo Figlio
    al quale con te e con lo Spirito Santo
    sia gloria nei secoli eterni.
    Amen.

    + Giovanni Paolo Benotto

    The main point is to “get out” of ourselves and of our individualism, out of the “sepulcher of sadness” and go share the joy of knowing that God is our Father. As the Archbishop said yesterday (after our choir presentation), one who makes an encounter with Christ cannot keep it to oneself, but needs to share it, otherwise one may lose it. To keep Him, we must share Him.

    (this Missione Giovani also involves leaving a church open every day from 9am to 18pm with priests available to talk and hear confessions)

  10. Christina says:

    Father used the last lines of the gospel (about the pharisees taking up stones to drive Jesus from the temple) to make a connection I’ve never heard before. He talked about Christ’s actions in the temple being like his actions in our hearts. So, when the Pharisees drove him from the temple, that is very like how we treat Christ when we sin mortally. I’d never thought of that! He also talked about how there are times when it is necessary for Christ to take a whip of cords and drive the money-changers out of our hearts (although…he may have phrased a bit more gently…but I don’t know how gentle that point could be). I thought it was excellent.

  11. MikeCGannon says:

    Our Gospel at the EF Mass was different (John 8:48-59), but Father made two excellent points: the first being to explain the cosmological significance of God’s identification of Himself to Moses as “I Am That Am” (rather than just another being with another name, like the false gods Ra, Osiris, and Ba’al, God identified Himself as the pure act and state of Being), and then showed how Jesus identified Himself as God by using the same formulation, “Before Abraham came to be, I am.”

    Then Father also showed how Jesus proved Himself to be the Eternal High Priest (as talked about in the Epistle reading from Hebrews) by veiling His presence from the Jews when they desired to kill Him at that point. This show of power demonstrated that when the time came for Christ to lay down His life, it would be by His will and His choice, thus making Him both Priest and Sacrifice.

  12. The good point I heard down in Philadelphia is that the Greek word used for “untie” in the Gospel passage is the same Greek word used in the passage where Jesus gives the keys to the apostles: “whatever you loosen on Earth is loosened in heaven…” Jesus comes to untie us from the bonds of sin. This led to an exhortation to go to confession and an enumeration of times when confession is heard in that parish and a general note that one can go to confession in any neighboring parish if he prefers.

  13. Fatherof7 says:

    Our priest made an excellent point about maintaining faith. He brought up that even Lazarus, who experienced God’s work in a way that we never will, struggled to understand God’s will and keep a divine faith in his remaining earthly life. It is understandable that we struggle as well, but we must maintain our trust in God no matter what persecution or difficulties we encounter.

  14. Gail F says:

    I went to a parish I had never been to before. I had my own (very interesting) thoughts about the Gospel reading — how Jesus spoke differently to the two very different women, being matter-of-fact with the practical one and weeping with the emotional one, and how that shows we can all approach Him in our own way. But the priest talked about something else that also really struck me — about Jesus weeping with Mary and Lazarus being in the tomb in the dark, and how we should never be afraid that our sins are too dark and terrible for Christ — to ask for His help and He will not only set us free, but he will also weep with us. Knowing how sorry people can be for their sins, I was really struck by the idea of Jesus weeping with us as he did with Mary, because she was grieving and He loved her.

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